Thank you PostBourgie for the heads up on this! You will hit the blogroll.

Lovely Sarah Silverman encourages young Jews to travel to Florida to convince their presumably non-Obama supporting elders to vote for him. The Great Schlep has more details. As always, Sarah loves profanity, so consider the embed NSFW or Synagogue.

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

You’re not truly a blogger until you’ve turned the writing reigns over to someone else for a day or two. My dear friend and Purveyor of All Things Pink took it to the next level this past week. So far off the radar that she’s entirely devoid of intarweb (except cell phone), she asked me and a few other friends to guest blog for her. After the initial panic subsided I settled down and wrote something I hope will add a little spice to her groovy domain. Check it out at:

All I Want For Christmas

Today is my birthday. There’s nothing especially earthshaking about that, but I’ve had a notion the last few days. I’m beginning, or with much blessing, nearing the second half of my life. Sobering, yeah! Unlike the overwrought end of one’s 20s, this is a real occasion. In Bojangles for lunch, the lady taking my order asked if I wanted a sweet potato pie. I wanted to scream there’s no time for sweet potato pies in THE SECOND HALF®! It should have been obvious to her. I merely smiled and said, “No thanks.”

I approach this epoch with the curiosity of a puppy discovering his own backyard. Cautiously pawing the new possibilities, I embrace the potential to make this half the better half. All the mistakes I’ve made were only stumbling blocks; nothing broken, I’m all about continuing the exploration. If I were a briefs guy, today would definitely be the day to slip into boxers… or is underwear superfluous in THE SECOND HALF®?

Perhaps I can finally pull off a splash of Old Spice or wear one of Dad’s jaunty tams that Mom despised so much. It’s no mid-life crisis; I’m talking about an epiphany. As tumultuous as the first leg of the journey was, THE SECOND HALF® can more than make up for it. I’m off to make that happen.

Steven Bochco’s Raising the Bar premiered on TNT tonight. The cable network has spent a great deal of time building up the latest small-screen drama from the creator of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. It even aired without commercials.

If you missed it, or like me originally had no intentions of watching it, here’s the gist of the premiere.

After mouthing off to the cougar older judge (CJ) who’s sleeping with her on-the-downlow clerk (DLC), a pretty long-haired white boy public defendant (PPD) serves a contempt charge in jail beside his black client who was falsely accused of rape (FABC). The pretty blonde Assistant District Attorney (PBADA) and the PPD (who also happen to be banging each other) had agreed upon a plea due to an unfairly coerced witness identification, but the calloused, power hungry judge rejected it. Because all the 20 something ADAs , public defenders, and clerks are part of an after hours drinking circle, PPD was able to get DLC to exert some strategic pressure on the CJ. Not only was PPD’s contempt charge vacated without an apology to the CJ, but his FABC’s illegal weapon charge (using a pocket knife in commission of a felony) was commuted to time served. Crisis averted, drinks all around, smug judge’s reputation saved, and a happy gay tryst for DLC.

Could you stuff more here I come to save the day smarm into 40 minutes? I know we’re a paucity of voices in the media world, but is it too much to ask for a show that features a minority saving the day for other minorities? Out of fairness, I decided to watch the show. And sure, this is only the first one, but if I’ve somehow missed some grand revelation, please, someone enlighten me.